Commenting
on the Greek colony in Egypt, Naukratis, there is strong evidence that the
colony was formed in the pre-exilic
period. As Marjorie Susan Venit noted:
Possibly as early as the ninth century B.C.,
pottery from East Greek sites was imported into Egypt since a fragment of
Milesian Middle Geometric (dated between 850 and 745) has been identified with
Memphis (Philadelphia 29.71.181; Berytus 11
[1955] 100 no. 8, pl. 20.6. The date is that proposed by J.N. Coldstream noted
on the museum inventory card, 8 April 1982). This fragment notwithstanding,
most East Greek pottery from Egypt—and from Naukratis as well—dates from the
mid-seventh century throughout the third-quarter of the sixth. (Marjorie Susan
Venit, Greek Painted Pottery from
Naukratis in Egyptian Museums [American Research Center in Egypt Catalogs
7; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1988], 1)
Some
examples of Greek pottery pre-dating the exilic period would include various
bird-bowls which “are subgeometric vessels, probably made throughout the East
Greek region. The shape, with its distinctive decoration has a wide
distribution, and a reasonable number of fragments have been found at Naukratis”
(ibid., 1). Such fragments of bird-bowels and their dates include (cf. ibid.,
2-3):
Alexandria 9473 (perhaps ca. 650)
Cairo 26153 (perhaps ca. 650)
Cairo 26155 (perhaps 650-615)
Alexandria 17108 (perhaps 650-615)
Cairo 26154 (probably 650-615)
Cairo Je 38359 (perhaps 7th century)
Other
examples include “wild goat” (a style of vessel, not the fabric) which were
made in “a number of Greek cities of western Anatolia and the contiguous
islands” (ibid., 5). As Venis notes:
A small number of fragments of Cook’s Middle
Wild Goat I (640-625 B.C.) have been found at Naukratis (for example, London
91.8-6.73 [Journal of Hellenic Studies 44 [1924] pl. 8.6;
Kardara 73 no. 12], Borson 86.621 [Fairbanks pl. 35, 323.7; Kardara 84 no. 5],
and London [JHS 44 [1924] pl. 8.3;
Kardara 85 no. 3]). (Ibid., 5)
On p. 6,
there is a listing of pre-exilic Wild Goat Neck-Amphorae and Oinochaoi:
Dokki, Agricultural Museum 614 (Middle Wild
Goat II, 625-600)
Alexandria 9304 (Middle Wild Goat II,
625-600)
Alexandria 9326 (Middle Wild Goat II,
625-600)
Elsewhere,
there is a mention of a Wild Goat Plate/Bowl, Alexandria 9330 which is Middle
Wild Goat II dating from 625-600 (ibid., 21).
Finally,
there is reference made to Alexandria 9379, Corinthian pottery, found at
Naukratis, dated to the last quarter of the 7th century (ibid., 61).
If Naukratis
was established in the pre-exilic era and not during the exilic period, it
would prove that, contemporary with Lehi et al., Greek people and their names
would have been known to them and other Israelites, being another nail in the
coffin of the common claim that Greek names in the Book of Mormon are anachronistic (notwithstanding,
some of the purported Greek names are either “translator’s anachronisms” [such
as Alpha and Omega]).
For a
further discussion of names and words such as Jonas and Timothy in the Book of
Mormon, see:
